Lake Michigan
by Nobody's Love
Summary: The MCMG take some time off, but a calm evening drive takes an unexpected turn from a pleasure trip to a desperate battle for survival. Rated for some language. Rating may increase in the future. My first wrestling fic. R
1. The Road

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Names and places mentioned here belong to their respective owners but not me.  
_

_A/N: Hello everybody! This is my first wrestling fic. I've been a wrestling my entire life and I also have my favorite wrestlers. So I decided to write one (and maybe the first of many) with two of my favorites. At first this was intended to be a one-shot, but it came out to be longer that I previously expected, so I decided to make it a multi-chapter fic, buy not too many. As you read, you may notice some language/grammatical/ orthographic errors. I reviewed it over and over again to minimize the number of errors as much as possible. Nonetheless I hope you enjoy it and understand it just fine. _

_Another quick note: The only images I have from the real Lake Michigan are from web search; I've never been there in person. So I may describe some things that may not exist in the real site, they are all for the sake of the story._

_And one last note, this fic is not a slash; if you see any, it's only in your minds and not here.  
_

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_**Lake Michigan**_

_**Chapter 1: The Road**_

"There you have it, folks. The majestic view of Lake Michigan right before our eyes. Scuba diving paradise, home to a wide diversity of wildlife, and also the tomb to some unfortunate mobsters who didn't make it in time to pay their monetary debts to their superiors. Please, let's give them a minute of silence and show them our respect."

"Damn, Alex. What kind of babbling is coming out of your mouth this time?" Chris Sabin said to his friend while driving his black Ford Explorer through the high road that surrounded the Lake Michigan. It was the middle of Autumn, and the mountains whitened by the snow could be seen from the distance ahead.

Alex Shelley turned away from the camcorder in his hand and stared at his best friend/colleague over his shoulder. Half his body was sticking out from the window on his passenger's seat. "What? Can't I be inspired sometimes? Chris, I also have my needs to free my muses sometimes."

"Well, next time be sure to free them far away from me. Sometimes your muses got me annoyed. Anyway, what's up with the recording thing?"

"This beauty? I found it in the bottom of my duffel bag. I had it all alone and forgotten. Guess I could find a new use to it since my spying days are way over." He said while holding the piece of technology in his hand.

"By taping the lake? Alex, we've drove by this road hundreds of times and we've seen the lake in every angle possible. Haven't you found anything else interesting enough to waste 700 MB on it yet?" He said. Sometimes, his friend's behavior makes his patience to drain slowly out of his system. This time was no exception.

Alex sighed, somehow defeated. "You're right." He repositioned himself in his seat. "I think I need a shot from above. Can you open the sunroof?"

"What?" Chris asked, confused.

"Okay. No problem, I'll open it." He reached the button that opens the sunroof. The sunroof slid open swiftly.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked.

Ignoring him, Alex began to push himself through the sunroof, robbing some room to the driver's side. "Hey pal, gimme some space…"

While Alex kept struggling his way through the sunroof, Chris didn't know if to keep his eyes on Alex or on the road. He struggled a second to keep the drive steady on the humid road.

"Hey. Watch out! You'll make me crash off the road!" He shouted to Alex.

"Just… Aw yes." Alex said triumphantly. Now his torso was completely out in the open air through the sunroof. He placed one foot on the dashboard and the other on the driver seat's back. Half of that foot found support inconsiderately on Chris' shoulder.

"Watch my shoulder!" He turned his head slightly to see the other man's shoe almost in his face. His face contorted. "Oh man, your shoes stink!"

Chris knew that his complaints would not be heard, it would be fruitless to discuss with his colleague. On the other side, discussions like this between friends, made things look normal and entertaining. After months of touring and wrestling throughout the states, a little space to free their minds was always more that welcome. And now that they finally got some time to rest and relax, they were going to enjoy it to the maximum. He also knew that the definition of "relaxation" for him could be slightly different from Alex's. Actually, they were letting each other be. This time, Chris took his passive side. Alex was just being him.

"Hey Chris, you should see the lake from up here. It looks bigger. It's even hard to see the other side." Alex shouted from outside. He held the camcorder once more in his hand and resumed his recording.

There was a light, cool breeze outside that entered his nose as Chris kept the car's speed constant, though not that fast. His heavy jacket protected him from any coldness it brought. The sun was setting down, and with it, dark grey clouds began to cover the orange sky, announcing that rain was coming soon. Alex saw the effect of the mixing sun rays and clouds were beautiful, and smiled at the view as an excited kid on an interstate trip.

"Oh gosh, look how high we're driving from the lake level, man. How high could it be? Maybe a hundred feet?"

His feet were digging deeper into the dashboard and into Chris' shoulder. He began to feel uncomfortable. It made his driving a little difficult.

"Oh, those are pretty big rocks down there. Why I haven't noticed them before…"

_I don't believe it…_

Chris decided that Alex's fun was turning into his actual discomfort and insecurity in the road. He then raised his right elbow and hit Alex in the back of his knee with it. The hit was strong enough to blend his leg. Alex lost his balance and leaned forward to avoid falling. Fun was over. For now.

"Oww! Man, what was that for?" Alex protested.

"Get your ass back inside." Chris ordered seriously.

He slowly lowered until he reached his place in the passenger's seat. "Hell Chris, are you so used to kill the moment that way?"

"You keep poking your nose out of the car and I'm getting a chill from it. Isn't the air cold enough outside?"

"Ugh, you sound like my mom." He turned the camcorder off and threw it to the back seat.

"Well, it seems that she's the only one that possesses total control of you. You see, you obeyed me immediately." Chris chuckled.

"Man, you hurt my feelings."

"Yeah, yeah. Go drown your sorrows in a barrel of whiskey somewhere else. But not in my car, and certainly not around me."

"Hey, what kind of man do you think I am?"

"The kind of man who would pour whiskey all over him just to make some girls to take a lick out of you."

Alex gave a look to his friend. "And you wouldn't do it, shy guy?"

"Nope." Chris said. A pause in the conversation was follow. Until Chris added with a grin. "'Cause I already did it."

"What?! You are a dirty little bastard!" Alex exclaimed, laughing. "And you didn't share it to your best friend?"

"Sorry Alex. Up till today I'm still digesting that memorable night. Oh man…" Chris said dreamily. He was grinning from ear to ear while he kept his eyes on the road.

"When was that? And where the hell I was that night?"

"Remember the house show at Tampa Bay last Summer?" Chris asked.

"Yeah…"

"And you remember this beach bar with the wooden gazebos in the sand and the white curtains all over there?"

"I was there."

"No. You stayed at the bar stool scoring at the bartender there. By the way, pretty brunette you got right then. So while you were engaged in conversation, this stunning blonde invited me over one of those gazebos… with a bottle of Jack Daniels in her hand. Dude, it turned out to be quite romantic. And, well…" He cocked an eyebrow and turned to Alex.

"And?" He waited for the rest of his story, but Chris said nothing more and only kept smiling to himself. "Oh come on, pal. Don't hold the suspense." He pressed. His curiosity was going to killed him one day.

"Sorry Alex. I'll leave it to your –"

The next statement was cut short when something hit the side of the Explorer, shattering and flattening the driver's door at impact. It happened so fast that none of them saw what got them hit. The vehicle screeched against the asphalt as it turned on its wheels with incredible speed. The hit was so violent that it sent the SUV off the road and directly through the thick metal verandas that marked the road limit and protected the drivers to fall to the lake waters beyond.

Chris grunted as he felt a dull pain on his side when the unseen thing crashed with his car. The impact made him released the grip from the steering wheel while the forceful hit pushed him to the opposite side. His body blended painfully to one side and the safety belt dug into his collar bone. For those painful seconds, he couldn't breathe, and panic ran through his spine.

Alex didn't suspect that something was wrong until some invisible force stole his balance and pushed him hard against the passenger's door. He first felt his arm collided against the window. A millisecond later, his head collided against the glass. The blow stunned him, making him dizzy and nauseous instantly. The pressure of the hit was suffocating and made it hard to breathe.

Once the initial shock subdued enough to move, Chris straightened himself back into his sit. He blinked several times to dissipate the fog inside his head. He looked to the front and saw the windshield glass crack. The spidery cracks zigzagged from left to right. Then he slowly looked at his side to find the driver's door twisted and broken. The window, as well as the windshield glass was still in place but as shattered as the first one.

When he tried to moved, pain exploded through his left arm and shoulder. He hissed in pain as he held it close to his body with his right, unhurt hand. He tried to fix his blurry sight through the glass cracks. All he could see was the cloudy dusk beyond and the water joined by the horizon line. No earth in sight. He leaned as much as his injured side allowed him to watch down over the door's window. All he could see was the vast waters of Lake Michigan under the car.

"Wha-What the…" He couldn't find his voice to finish.

Bewildered, he moved his head to look though the side mirror to see outside of the car. He shivered when he noticed that the car was barely holding on the edge of the rocky cliff by its two rear tires. Luckily, some of the bodywork underneath the car might got stuck with some of the big rocks that protuberated from the edge. Dismayed, Chris realized that the front tires, along with most of the front part of the car, was suspended in the middle of the air and at the mercy of gravity.

He looked down once more. The vertical distance between the car and the water looked pretty high. Maybe Alex was right before; they must be at least a hundred feet away from the abyss. If the car's precarious anchorage to the rocks gave up, they were going to hit the water, hard.

Chris glanced at his friend. Alex leaned to the door window. His eyes were closed shut and his face contorted in a pain grimace. "Alex?" Chris called, his own discomfort on his side made his voice shook.

He didn't respond. He hissed through his teeth trying to get rid of the sharp pain in his brain.

"Alex, come on buddy. Wake up." Chris called again. He shook Alex's shoulder with his unhurt hand.

Slowly, Alex opened his eyes and straightened back into the seat. He winced as he pressed one hand against his temple. Still a little disoriented, he appeared to be in control of his breathing.

"You okay bro?" Chris asked.

Alex looked at his friend and then at his surrounding. "Wh-what the hell… happened?" Alex finally said in a gasp.

Chris was staring at him intently and he didn't understand why. Wasn't he supposed to be driving and staring straight ahead to the road? And why did he suddenly stop talking to him? He looked through the cracked window glass. Clarity and shock invaded his mind when he saw water down below instead of the gray asphalt road.

"Holy shit…"

In the wake of realization, he began to agitate in his seat but the belt was constricting his movement. When he brought his hand to unbuckle it, the car balanced forward, threatening to slide over and to finally meet the frigid water. The car's twisted metal creaked loudly.

"No, no, no! Don't move! Keep still, stay right where you are!" Chris shouted at him when he though the car was finally going down the cliff. He instinctively stuck his back into the seat and grabbed the steering wheel in hopes that the senseless action would hold the car in balance for a little longer. "Don't' even blink…"

"Okay, okay. Not blinkin', no movin'…" Alex repeated, almost out of air. The vehicle swung softly forward, then backward, until it came back to its "original" position.

Both men waited until the car remained static again. Once still, the crumbling anchorage ceased creaking. The only noises that filled the closed space inside car were those of their agitated breath intakes.

"Okay, I guess something on the road hit us, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Chris nodded.

He looked to the driver's side for a moment, and noted the odd shape and chipped metal if the door. The door was partly popped in into the car. Whatever hit them, it made direct impact to Chris' side.

"It hit you by your side, Chris! Are you hurt?"

Chris blinked before answering gathering himself together. "I'm okay. It's not that bad." He replied with an almost inaudible mumble. His entire left side of his body throbbed. He winced and shook away a small wave of dizziness.

"I'm not buying it. You're as pale as snow."

He frowned at him. "Well I'm not the only one playing ghost here. You look terrible." Chris paused. "Oh hell, I'm not entirely okay. You're right, the SOB crashed by my door."

"What about you?" He pressed. He wanted to know more about his condition; he didn't give a damn about how the car looked.

Chris sighed. "I think my shoulder got part of the impact, it hurt like hell. And my ribs on the left side feel a bit sore, too. The rest, I'll manage."

He looked at the passenger's window and frowned at some red smears that dripped down the glass.

"Alex, you're bleeding." He asked, concerned.

"What?"

Chris pointed at the window. Alex followed with his eyes and found blood stains in the glass, right where his head collided against it. He took his hand to his head again, and felt something wet and sticky in his right temple. He frowned in disgust when his fingers came out red with blood.

"No wonder why my head hurt so much," he said exasperated. "But don't worry, it's only my head. Nothing else hurt, I swear."

"Okay…" The dirty blond man relied on his answer.

Silence filled the car once more, the shock still looming the men heads. He looked through his window once more.

"The car that hit us…"

Alex looked at his partner when he broke the silence. He still had a hand in the wheel, and he stared outside the car.

"…It was red. Another SUV. And had a state plate." He said not parting his eyes from the spot outside.

Alex frowned. It all happened so fast, and yet he could focus on such details. Was he hallucinating?

"And the plate ends with the number 8."

"You managed to notice all that? Why are you so sure?"

"'Cause it's down there."

Alex leaned forward a little to take a look outside. The lights were turned on and helped to see the water a hundred feet below. What he saw made his gut inside him jump. The only visible part of the red SUV car was the rear part, the rest was already sinking deep into the water. It clearly hit the water front first. The air escaped to the surface as the car sunk slowly and disappeared into the deep. They watched the car finally sunk completely. As far as they could see, there were no signs of anyone moving inside the car. If the driver survived, it was unknown to them. The mystery red vehicle kept sinking slowly until it disappeared underwater.

"We have to get out of here," Chris said.

"Maybe some other driver on the road will notice us."

"We've been driving for about half an hour through the route and the only car on the road beside us is down there. Alex, I didn't see any other car passing by."

The car moved again, this time farther forward. They held their breath. The car swung for some seconds, then remained still but more inclined to the water abyss below. Either the rock cliff or the anchorage was giving up with each minute passing. They must act now and fast before they end up in the bottom of Lake Michigan.

"Then we call 911," Chris said.

"Is there any signal in this area?"

"There must be. I don't pay eighty bucks a month for a crappy coverage." He carefully slid his hand into his pocket searching his cellphone. But his hand came empty.

"Can I use you cellphone?" He asked Alex.

"Where's yours?"

"In my backback… in the trunk."

He rolled his eyes, annoyed. Action that he regretted doing because his headache ignited once more, worst that before. "Genius."

"The battery was dead anyway." Chris added.

Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was feeling cold and was getting desperate to come out of this situation. He knew that the place they were stuck was pretty isolated and there was no way they could wait for some good Samaritan to show up, and the nearest form of civilization was still miles away from there.

_So much for a little getaway…_

Resolved to be the one to take both of them out of their messy situation, he unbuckled his seat belt and bent over to the side.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked when Alex roughly moved inside the car. "Where-?"

"Don't worry, I'm just trying to reach on my cellphone." He explained. "It's in my backpack too, but I put it on backseat floor instead."

"Okay," Chris said. He shivered slightly. Despite the fact that he was protected, it was getting cold inside, and he could not imagine how low the temperature was outside. "Just… try not to move too much, would ya?"

"Like I said, I'll try." Alex muttered.

Not moving from his seat, Alex stretched his arm to the backseat floor. He searched blindly with his right for a minute until he reached his backpack. He then searched for one of its pockets and worked the zipper open. He then slipped his hand into the pocket and into the mess it was inside. He tried to surveillance his task looking over his shoulder, but the pack was out of his sight.

Chris watched as Alex blindly maneuvered over his backpack. As much as he wanted to accelerate the task, he was afraid that the simple actions of turning his head or moving his hand away from the steering wheel would break the poor balance that was holding the car into safety.

Lighting filled the sky above and the horizon far away, followed by the loud sound of thunder. Both men were distracted by it and looked through the cracked front glass. Night finally fell in, and the weather was so cloudy that no stars were visible. Only the pale light of the moon shone through them.

It was going to rain.

"Great, can't things just get any worst?" Chris muttered. The car swung again. Things were getting worst. "Alex, hurry up with that cellphone."

"Just a second, I'm almost there…"

After digging through his MP3 player and some of his camcorder's recording discs, he finally recognized his cellphone with his hand. "Woo, I got it!"

He took it out quickly and checked it for a signal. Two bars out of five. Not a very strong signal though, but he hoped it would do. He dialed the emergency number and took the cellphone on his ear.

A few rain drops began to fall against the glass and the Explorer's blended hood. The vehicle creaked again. The rain was not going to help them.

"Alex…"

"Damn it! No one's answering!"

A mellow female voice finally answered the emergency call.

"_9-1-1. What is your emergency?"_

"Yeah, my friend and I had a car crash and the hit sent us off the road and we are still inside and…" He stopped his rant to breathe and to control his nervousness. "…and now we are 'bout to fall down to the lake… We can't get out of here…"

Another thunder made both men almost jump out of their sits. The car began to slide forward again. The rain was now intensifying and was moistening the earth and rocks that held half of the car in solid ground.

"Shit we're falling down…" Alex said under his breath, his phone in his ear.

"Please tell them to hurry!" Chris pressed. Time was running out.

"Send somebody now, we're falling!"

"_Sir I need your exact location."_

The car continued to swing forward. No coming back now. The heavy rain saturated the ground and it was adding unwanted pressure to the car hood.

Alex spat the approximate location to the operator.

"_I'm sending a rescue unit right away…"_

"Oh God, hold on Chris!"

"We are goin' down!!!"

"…_Sir, I need you to remain ca-"_

The metal bodywork creak and the rocks under it rumbled loudly one last time as the anchorage finally gave up. The operator never had a chance to complete her statement. In slow motion, the two wrestlers saw helplessly how the car slid down the cliff to meet with the now dark waters of the lake. The car turned over during the gravity fall, hitting the waters roof first and the four tires upside down. The car bounce a little over the water, then began to sink with to people inside.

TBC...

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_A/N: Love it? Hate it? Dare to share your comments with me, they are greatly appreciated.  
_


	2. The Bottom

_Disclaimer: Sadly, I'm still own nothing and no one._

_A/N: Any errors in this chapter are mine and only mine. There are always some. I'm not perfect though, neither are my language skills. Bear with me.  
_

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**_Lake Michigan_**

**_Chapter 2: The Bottom_**

The two men laid crumbled on the roof of the car, now turned into the floor. The new hit made them tumble inside the car, making old aches and pains to emerge once more. Both men groaned and moaned as their respective aches resurged anew. The limited space only allowed them to remain crouched or kneeled on the roof-floor.

Alex and Chris were totally disoriented to their surroundings. They watched around to find the car surrounded by water; the bubbling sound of the air escaping the car filled their ears. They felt how the ruined vehicle kept sinking down. Save for the small lights inside and the headlights, the water was so dark that no form of life was visible.

Chris felt something wet and cold where his hands were touching the floor. He looked down and saw the floor saturated with water. He looked around desperately to find the water entrance.

"Alex?" He called to the space. His voice sounded weird and hollow inside the air bubble that his precious car had become.

"What?" He replied after a moment. He unconsciously wiped off the oozing blood from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Look," Chris pointed to the front. Alex followed it with his sight.

As if he couldn't get any colder, his blood turned into liquid ice. The lake water was entering the car through the cracks of the broken glass. Large amounts of water were filtrating through the A/C exit and through every hole available in the dashboard. The car was flooding rapidly and the increasing pressure of the water against the SUV wasn't helping either.

Alex sighed in utter disbelief. He shook his head. "Oh man we're so screwed. I never imagined myself dying like this…"

Although his mind was almost shut down and panic barely allowed him to move properly, Chris shook away his best friend's pessimism from his ears. That was not the way it was going to end. It was not his day to die. Not his, and certainty not his colleague's either. He was decided to use the very last resource in his hands to make their way out of that disaster.

He looked around widely trying to think. Suddenly, the light bulb in his brain lighted up. Levering himself up, he knelt up and reached the space between the reversed floor and the passenger's seat. It took most of his energy to ignore the stabbing pain in his left arm. The water had already reached some inches high.

"What are you looking at?" Alex asked his friend.

Chris ignored him, apparently too busy to reply.

"Chris?"

Still no answer.

"Hey jackass!" He shouted, his own panic turning into anger. "What are you doing?"

"I'm tryin' to get our jackasses out of this mess! There's no way I'm gonna end up down here. Not you, and certainly not me, either. You hear me?" He shouted back while he kept searching. He took out an aluminum baseball bat from its secret place. He smirked triumphantly. "Here you are beauty."

"A bat?" He questioned. "What are you gonna do with that?"

"I'm gonna smashed the window so we can get out swimming."

Alex's eyes wide opened, not believing his colleague's craziness. "You're gonna what?! You're gonna kill us both! Have you lost your mind?!" Alex grabbed the bat in Chris' hands, but he didn't give it away.

"What are you doing?"

"Give me that bat."

Both men began to struggle against each other in hopes to gain possession of the bat. The childish battle stopped when a loud stump shook the Explorer lightly. They watched through the crumbling glass as dark dirt floated around. The car had hit the bottom of the lake, and they were still inside.

The glass around them cracked further, and more water was filtrating through them.

In the moment of distraction, Chris snatched the bat from Alex's hands, but Alex tried to grab it back, starting the struggle again.

"No! Gimme the damn bat!"

"I won't give you anything! For Christ's sake, listen to me!!" Chris stiffed his arms as much as his injuries allowed him and stared squarely at Alex's eyes.

Alex felt stunned by his friend's sudden outburst and soften the grip on the bat. He didn't remember when was the last time Chris looked so angry and hysterical. He was shivering and gasping for the scarce air inside the car. And if looks could kill, he would have died instantly.

His own panic wasn't helping and he was and surely would not help them to get out alive. And so, as impossible as it looked, he tried to calm down. He took a slow deep breath and closed his jaw shut in an attempt to subdue his trembling body.

"Listen Alex," he said under his panicked breath. "We need to do this. If we wait some more, the air will run out. The doors won't open till the water fill the car and the pressure's equaled both inside and outside, And I for once wanna get outta here…" He stopped to catch his breath. Alex was looking at him blankly. If he understood him or not, there wasn't time to be sure of that.

"If we smash one of the windows with this, we can get out swimming all the way to the surface." He explained. Alex shook his head softly. He couldn't pay credit to what Chris was saying. It was almost a suicide mission what was coming out of his mouth but still it had a little sense. "Water will blast inside, it may hit us but there's still a chance…"

Alex looked down. The water continued to flood inside the messed up SUV. Still kneeled on the floor, the water already reached their mid thighs. The air that remained inside was getting thin and it was becoming hard to get a gulp of air into his lungs. Chris was right; something most be done or they would die waiting.

_I'd rather die trying…_

Alex looked back to his friend. Despite the fear and the cold running through his nervous system, he felt determined and almost inspired. He gripped the bat tighter. "I'll do it."

Chris saw the glint in his colleague's eyes and felt relieved that Alex finally agreed to stick around. He now wished that his last minute plan actually work. He let got of the bat and handed it to his friend.

Bat in hand, Alex moved as close to the driver's space as possible, where the glass was more cracked; he thought that the more broken the glass was, the easier it would be for the glass to fall apart when smashed. With the SUV turned upside down, Alex felt quite disoriented. As he moved, the cold water splashed around him. It was now reaching his hips. The glass cracked even more as the pressure kept pushing in. It was now or never.

"You know Chris," Alex stuttered while gripping the aluminum bat with both hands. "After all this shit is over, I'll take a year off in Maui… Always wanted to go there. Or maybe in that hotel in Dubai…"

Chris couldn't help but to chuckle at Alex's rant. Oh how he wanted to be in some hot beach tanning instead of being surrounded by that iced hell they were stuck in. "Oh yeah, you betcha…" he fantasized. "The sun, surfing all day, room service… a complete paradise."

"Tomorrow we'll be laughing at this, man. I swear." He breathed deeply one last time and raised the bat. "Okay. Hold your breath!"

Chris filled his lungs with air to the max and closed his eyes. A second later, Alex stabbed the window glass with the tip of the bat. It only took one hit to make the glass to come off. Instantly, the frigid water blasted inside the ruined Explorer. The water blast stole the guys inside some of their balance as the cold feeling pierced their muscles and into their bones. The cold was paralyzing and brought pain with it.

When the wrestlers felt that the water push diminish considerably, they moved. Searching for any remaining air inside, they pulled their heads out of the water and as close to the SUV floor/roof as possible, where there was enough space for a small amount of air and for his face to come out. The rest of their bodies were surrounded by water. The liquid was reaching and entering their ears.

Alex began to breathe frantically when his face came out of the water. His headache was piercing his head like knives. He grunted in pain. "Chris!" He shouted. He spewed the bitter water that got into his mouth.

"Yeah…?" Chris answered between gasps.

"You go first!"

_No! You go first!_ He wanted to scream. But once again that was not a very appropriate moment to be engaged into another of their "friendly" ramblings. This time he listened to his friend. "Okay…"

Taking one last gulp of air, Chris submerged his head into the water. Alex saw with the corner of an eye how his friend's head disappeared into the water. The small light inside the car flickered a few times until it went out completely, leaving the flooding interior with a gloomy cobalt shade. Miraculously, the head light outside remained on and barely illuminated the bottom of the lake and the interior poorly, and without any other source of light nearby, they were practically maneuvering blind.

Alex noticed that the water had already reached his mouth. Within a minute, the interior would be completely flooded. Not wasting any other second he held his breath and submerged into the water. It was hard to ignore the numbing and debilitating cold that surrounded both him and his friend. It was like coming out from his house in the middle of a snow storm. He almost felt like his eyes froze the moment he opened them.

Underwater, Chris' figure turned into a dark silhouette floating in front of him. The short haired man signaled to the newly made hole in the driver's side, prompting Chris to get out. He almost dismayed when he couldn't move his fingers properly. He moved back a little to let his friend some space to swim through the interior of the car. Chris swam toward the window as fast as his numbing limbs and injured shoulder allowed him.

Once Chris was out of the car, it was Alex's turn. Right after him, he proceeded to swim through the broken window and away from his metal prison. He kept kicking the water away until most of his body was out of the SUV. He couldn't see the time to finally meet the firm ground in the surface. Whether it was rock, dirt, grass, or asphalt… he didn't care at all. He madly wanted to go home and lay on his couch with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

Something caught Alex's left foot restricting it from any kind of movement. His blood ran even colder when he noted that he wasn't advancing to the surface. Confused, he looked down to his feet, but couldn't see what was holding him down the water. He knew he couldn't held his respiration much longer, and the possibility of drowning made him feel even number that before. _Maybe my shoe got tangled somewhere…_

Frantically, he shook his leg to release it from whatever was tangling it, but the action was fruitless; the whole shaking movement left him drained and more tired than a whole-day workout at the gym. He shook it once more, but to no avail.

_No. No no no… this can't be happening… Not now._

He showed no resistance from his subconscious when he succumbed to hysteria. He involuntarily gasped and let escaped the air he was holding. He looked around wildly for something – for anything - that might help him to get free from the invisible hold in his foot. His lungs felt on fire and the unintentional gulp of water wasn't helping. He coughed but only succeeded in swallowing more water.

A cool rush enveloped his body as unconsciousness drew near. He was tired, cold, and unfit to fight anymore. He looked up and saw Chris's figure – his only change for help swimming toward safety.

_Come back… Help-_ More water made his way into his lungs after he tried futilely to articulate words. It was useless now and was definitive; he was going to die, drowned and forgotten on the depths of their home state lake. At least Chris would survive, would seek help and would go on with his life and plans. After all, not everything was in vain.

_Dubai… Maui… Tok-yo…_

He closed his eyes, resigning and letting his horrible fate to engulf him in mind and body. The new darkness in front of him seemed to be sucking him whole, and all he wanted was to rest his exhaustion away. So, no matter to where it was taking him, he welcomed it.

* * *

The view of the water surface above, the adrenaline pumping in his veins and his wild instincts of survival were the only thing that kept Chris Sabin going. The full moon – slightly hidden behind the clouds - looked rippled and distorted when viewed from underwater, but its pale light guided his way up. He held his breath and kept swimming like if there was no tomorrow, not daring to stop even when his body was begging for a little rest. He had no idea how much time he'd been trying to reach the surface; it felt like the surface was pushing itself away from him. That alone increased his desperation even more.

His lungs started to fail him when he finally reached the surface and got his head out of the water. It was raining, and drops felt like tiny fingers pinching his head. He gasped for air frantically; it felt crisp and cold in his throat but for him it tasted delicious. Struggling to keep his head out of the water, he inspected his surroundings. He felt lost and more disoriented than when underwater. The rain water that dripped from his head was entering his eyes and made his eyesight blurry. He coughed and retched when the water threatened to enter his mouth and nose.

He blinked away the excess water from his eyes and took another look around. Water and more water, water as far as his eyes could reach. He never thought he could hate something with all his being. If someone ever invites him to do some scuba diving he'll had a fit and surely will punch it in the face. He must find a safe shore before exhaustion wears him off completely.

Chris turned around and forced his tired eyes to look through the dark. He spotted some sort of a pebbled shore, but it look too far away from his current location; he would not make it. He turned his head and spotted a big rock formation that protuberated from the water. Some of their shapes were irregular and even sharp-edged, but some others looked flat and extended far from the water edge. More to the left rose the high, vertical rocky wall from where their fell. The flat rocks looked closer that the shore. He looked around one last time; there were no other options left. It was the hard rocks or the freezing water along with the falling rain.

_It's not that far. I can make it, I can…_

Summoning the last bit of energy left in him, he headed to the rocks. Chris felt like fainting, he couldn't think clearly anymore, his limbs felt as heavy as lead. When he reached the flat rocks, the sole thought of lifting himself onto the rock formation sound nearly impossible in his state, in addition that his own clothes were weighting him down. But he didn't come up that far to practically die on shore. His instincts shouted him to keep moving.

_I can still make it…_

Chris tensed his muscles and lifted his dead weight from the water. He grunted and groaned loudly as the result of overworking his body to the limit. The pain made him saw small white spheres before his eyes. He kept pulling himself forward with his right arm and avoided using the left one. With another pull, he took his legs out of the water and crawled away from the water hell, rain falling over his back. After that, he collapsed completely on the hard rock, falling on his right side and taking long intakes of air between coughs.

Exhausted, he rolled over on his back and let himself to lay totally spread on the rock. At that moment he felt like a ton of bricks were lifted from his shoulders; he could even breathe a little better. He didn't mind the rain or the night that reigned around him, or the car he lost to some negligent driver and later to the lake itself. He swore from the very start that he was going to get out of that mess alive, and he just did it. He almost felt proud of himself. But now, all he wanted to do was to sleep; to sleep and rest for the next week uninterrupted. Maybe a little vacation would suit him well.

"Vacation…" he whispered under his breath as he closed his eyes. The rain fell on his face and inside his mouth through his parted lips.

_Vacations._

"…_I'll take a year off in Maui."_

"…_a complete paradise."_

"_Tomorrow we'll be laughing at this…"_

"…_we'll be laughing…"_

_We._

_Alex…_

Chris' eyes snapped open and sat up on the rock, ignoring his migraine and the dull pain on his shoulder. He glanced at his surroundings, breathing heavily. All of the sudden, he felt uncomfortable and nauseous, but his weariness was gone and his mind became more alert. Something was wrong, undeniably and terribly wrong.

"Alex," he whispered, his lips were numb with fear and the increasing panic.

_Oh God, no…_

He looked around. No one. He leaned forward staring at the dark water. He hasn't come out of the water. Something happened to him down there.

"Alex?" He called, but his voice got caught in his sore throat. He felt like he was about to hyperventilate. His mind raced around one person, one name.

_No. He can't be… No!_

"Alex!!"

TBC...

* * *

_A/N: Am I evil? Maybe... *evil smirk*  
_

_Be kind and Review. Your comments are greatly appreciated!  
_


	3. The Surface

_Disclaimer: Still don't own them.  
_

_A/N: Heavy angst ahead. Sort of. Any mistakes or grammatical errors are mine, but it's okay with me if you want them :) Anyway, enjoy!  
_

* * *

**_Lake Michigan_**

**_Chapter 3: The Surface_**

"Alex?" He called, but his voice got caught in his sore throat. He felt like he was about to hyperventilate. His mind raced around one person, one name.

_No. He can't be… No!_

"Alex!!" He continued calling for his friend as loud as both his neck and the falling rain allowed him.

Chris bent over the rock to look through the water, but he only saw black, ripples and more water; the possibility to look all the way to the bottom was out of question.

A little more ahead he noticed a weak light coming from somewhere deep underwater. It was flickering on and off constantly. Then he remembered that the Explorer's headlights remained on even when it hit the lake bottom and that that was must be the spot where the SUV was. And the flickering thing must be them about to run out of energy. If Alex was still down there, he couldn't wait for the only light source to die; it would be impossible to locate it later.

_I must…find him! What if… What if he…_

Chris could not accept the possibility of his best friend dying. Without a moment of hesitation, he stripped off his soaked jacket and slid over the rock and plunged into the water again. He moaned when the cold water kicked him again with might as it pierced his skin again. He ignored the stabbing pain and took a long, deep breath before diving underwater. Dead or alive, he was bringing Alex back.

Like with the moonlight before, Chris followed the dying headlights to the crash site. He remembered that the previous dive didn't exhausted the air he held in his lungs, so he trusted that he could go all the way down and back with no major problems. He continued diving until his tumbled Explorer came into view. Close to the driver's side outside was a blurry figure, a person. It looked like a doll from the distance. His gut shrunk when the scene in front of him changed in a horrifying way as he got closer; it made him want to puke.

_Alex!_

Alex's unmoving body was floating motionless close to the window he broke so they could get out. His eyes were closed and if there wasn't for the obvious situation, Chris would have thought that he was just sleeping.

He approached him until he was face to face to him. He wanted to call him out, to make him open his eyes but that was beyond question. He brought his hand to touch Alex's cheek, but no response came from him, not even a twitch from his face. Chris didn't even felt that his hand was touching him. The cold around him was taking its toll from his body, not to mention his friend's. If they didn't come out of the water quickly they will freeze to death.

He inspected Alex's body to find the reason to why he couldn't make it out of the water. Looking down he found the cause. His left shoe got tangled between the sharp edges of the door metal and the broken side mirror. He swam quickly until he faced the tangled shoe lace. The headlights were flickering rapidly. Chris began to untangle the lace from the debris with numb fingers. He could barely feel them moved, but ironically it hurt like hell to flex him properly. He fought desperately against the broken metal and twisted edges while his unconscious friend seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

_C'mon you stupid piece of shit!_

The headlights died completely, leaving the bottom of the lake to its natural darkness. When that happened, Chris panicked; he wasn't even half the way when everything went black around him. Now he couldn't see. In desperation, he took off Alex's shoe with some work, freeing him from the vehicle's "grasp". Alex's body began to float away from him, but Chris swam toward him quickly. He grabbed him from under his armpits and wrapped his arms around him, holding him close to him_._ After he was sure that Alex's would not float away from him, he began to swim back to the surface… and away from that death trap.

_I got you buddy. I got you._

He hurried his legs to move faster when he felt that his natural air supply was starting to run out. The extra weight he was carrying was making the job slower that he expected. He released his air slowly hoping that his lungs would last just a little bit longer before they finally burst.

Before he expected, Chris emerged from the water with Alex's body slumped over his left shoulder. The pain on his shoulder - numbed by the cold - was barely noticeable; it wasn't even there. After inhaling his air intake, he headed immediately to the closest patch of ground. His body was running on pure adrenaline now. He kept telling to himself that everything would be okay once they both got out the lake. It was still raining; thunders and lightning filled the cloudy sky.

The sound of rain was half muted by some kind of rumbling sound. It increased it intensity with every second and was coming from practically everywhere. Bewildered, he turned his head from side to side in an attempt to locate the source. When the rumbling sound came close to be deafening, a helicopter passed overflying the area and over them, surveying every spot with a giant light.

"Hey!" Chris shouted with his heart pumping rapidly in his chest. The flying object was too beautiful to be ignored. It flied past his location and away from them. It began to disappear into the horizon. He almost dismayed in the water; their hope – and perhaps their only one – was flying away from them. _What? They didn't see us? But they were so close to-_

Suddenly, and as if they heard Chris' cry, the helicopter turned around and headed back to them. Then he understood; it was overflying the perimeter, marking the area. Upon understanding, he cheered in excitement and without any containment. "Ha ha ha!! They saw us Alex, they came for us! You freakin' did it, bro!!"

He half expected an answer from his friend, but none came.

Alex's lack of response made Chris mood to fall serious again. He hurried again and swam toward the pebbled shore. When he reached the shallow part, he dragged Alex to safety, far from the water edge and the small breaking waves. Once there, he collapsed along with his friend, breathing heavily. He laid on his stomach by Alex's side for some second until he gathered some energy back into his system.

Chris touched Alex's arm; he was laid on his side, his clothes dripping wet and one shoe short.

"Alex," he called quietly. No movement. "Alex?" He shook his arm softly, but still no answer.

Afraid, he turned his friend on his back and kneeled close to him. Chris gasped when he inspected Alex's face. It was a sickly mix of white and gray, and some veins were visible through the translucent skin. His eyes were closed. The wound in his temple had turn into an angry shade of red and purple, and his lips were tinted blue. He looked dead. Dead.

"Alex?" He called again, raising his voice. He tapped his cheek with one hand; it only lolled limply to the other side. No warmth emanated from it. He brought his ear close to his mouth to feel breath. He brought two fingers to his neck, frantically searching for a pulse. He felt nothing.

_No…_

He unzipped Alex's black jacket and took it off him, leaving him in his gray shirt. "Give me a sign, Alex! Come on!" Chris ordered his friend, his voice breaking. He brought his ear to Alex to listen to a heartbeat or any other sign of life. Again, nothing.

_He's dead. Oh God he's dead!_

Urgently, Chris cupped his hands over Alex's torso and began chest compressions. He couldn't wait for help to arrive, it would be too late. "No, you can't die. Not yet man…" He stopped to feel breath from Alex's mouth. Nothing.

He pinched Alex's nostrils and proceeded to breathe life into his lungs. Then he desperately resumed the compressions. His chest refused to rise. "C'mon, you gotta breathe! Damn it, breathe you damn nitwit!" He shouted as he kept pounding on Alex's chest. "Please, Alex, wake up." He pleaded, but his friend remained lifeless.

Chris breathed into Alex's mouth once more, this time he slammed one fist into his sternum, forcing his lungs to respond. "Please…" He begged, his voice finally breaking and giving in to raw emotions. It was frustrating. After all they've been through, he wasn't able to save Alex's life. Now his best friend, his "partner in crime", his brother, was laying dead, drowned on the shores of Lake Michigan, the rain falling over him; all witnessed by the unforgivable cold night. It was not fair.

_Don't die on me…_

Resigning, Chris breathed into him and slammed his fist into his chest one last time.

On impact, Alex's chest shuddered and a small gurgling moan escaped the fallen man's throat.

"Oh God. Alex?"

Alex convulsed as water exploded from his mouth. Mouthfuls of water were expelled from his lungs as he frantically gasped for air.

"Yes Alex, that's it! Spit it all out!" Chris encouraged. He rolled Alex into his side so he didn't choke on the water that filled his lungs. He heaved and coughed violently as he expelled the last of the remaining water from his lungs. Chris rubbed his arm and his back in a comforting and encouraging way. Seen Alex finally fighting to catch up his breath and responding, Chris felt way beyond relieved.

Once the heaving and coughing stopped, Chris felt Alex fall limp on his stomach again, shivering uncontrollably. His breathing was deep, raspy and uneven. He rolled him over on his back again. It was then that Alex opened his eyes.

"Hey," Chris said and offered a smile despite his still shot nerves. He frowned when he noted something was not right. Alex's dark eyes were opened, but he didn't seem to acknowledge his friend's presence. He was staring straight up to the sky, his sight looked lost and disoriented. His face was still ghost white and his jaw quivered with cold between each labored breath. His eyes were fluttering, as though he were trying very hard to stay awake and was just seconds away to pass out.

Alex felt weird. No. Weird was an understatement because there must be another word in the English language to describe what was happening to his entire frame. He was ice cold, freezing, his muscles trembled and ached as they tried futilely to produce heat. He couldn't move, and he wasn't even sure if his eyes were open or not; he couldn't see a damn thing. And pain. He couldn't move but yet he was able to feel; the piercing pain was all over him and it refused to go away. And for some reason, his breathing was no longer under his control. The mere action on inhaling was stabbing him from the inside out.

_What's happening? Make it stop, please…_

There were strange sounds somewhere close to him, but they made no sense at all. His hearing seemed to be the only thing he had control over. Through the agonizing migraine that filled his whole brain, he forced his ears to listen and to figure some meaning out of the gurgling water sounds that clogged his understanding.

The voice was talking to him. It was not an echo, it was clear and it sounded closer that he expected. So clear, so recognizable. It was unforgettable.

_Chris… I can hear you._

Alex needed to say something, whatever; it didn't matter. He opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't feel it moving at all. Still, he tried.

"Ch-Chri-rhis…" he managed to say in a struggling whisper.

At the mention of his name, Chris reached out to hold his trembling hand. He squeezed it firmly despite his own shivering. "Here Alex, it's gonna be alright." He tried to comfort him.

Some seconds later, Alex squeezed it back. He couldn't help but smile.

Alex was trying to focus a little more on Chris' words, but the scarce clarity on his mind was starting to drift away. Suddenly, the shivering was fading away, as well as the cold in his bones. Breathing became less labored, and he felt so relieved that all his aches were finally ceasing. His desire for sleep became more dominant by the second.

Chris noted how Alex's survival mechanism lowered in intensity; the shivers were diminishing and his breaths sounded less ragged and more in control. Even his body relaxed a little. His eyelids were drooping and he let his head to fall back.

And Chris knew that none of those were good signs.

"No, Alex, stay with me. You can't go to sleep. Do you hear me?" Chris said. He shook him softly and looked at him through the slits of his eyelids, which refused to stay open. He was starting to succumb into panic once more. Chris coughed; the cold was taking its toll over his own body. After it stopped, he continued speaking to Alex. "Just hang on a little longer. C'mon man, you've come too far to let it go like this. You're tougher than that."

The sounds that came from the background made Chris to look up. His pupils shrunk slightly when red and blue lights approached the shore. The symphony of ambulance sirens and police patrol cars muted the sound of rain once more. The helicopter kept circling the area high above, and later was joined by another one coming from someplace he totally ignored. Help had finally arrived. The whole rush made him forget about the upcoming help completely.

Chris put a hand over Alex's cold forehead, but he was already unresponsive. He gave a little cough; the grip in his hand was slackening slowly. He was losing consciousness fast.

When the paramedics arrived at the accident site, he crawled away from the fallen man to let them do their job. He remained sit on the ground, unable to move and breathing heavily. A male medic pressed a stethoscope to his chest, checking his heartbeat; at the same time he took the man's temperature with and ear thermometer. A plastic oxygen mask was placed over the man's mouth and nose by another male medic while the sole female of the medical team pressed a bandage to Alex's forehead. The medics' absent conversation fed the gathering rescue personnel about the man's condition.

"He's going into shock…"

"He's having trouble breathing…"

"Slow heartbeat…"

"Core temperature's low…"

"Contusion on his head. Possible concussion…"

Chris seemed to be watching and listening how the trio of medics worked on Alex, but he wasn't paying attention at all. His vision blurred as soon as the lights approached him and random movements invaded the space around him; everything looked rippled and distorted, like if he was watching them from underwater. His muscles ached because of the shivering and as much as he wanted to control it, he lacked the strength to do so. It was tiresome even to listen.

"We'll retrieve… blankets once… on the ambulance…"

"Sir?"

He blinked, forcing his eyes to see through the rain and his ever growing brain fog. He just caught a glimpse of his friend laying strapped on a gurney and being loaded into the ambulance by a group of blue shadows.

_Are they aliens?_

"Sir, are you alright?"

Chris came out of his stupor when he felt a hand touch his injured shoulder. He turned his head and saw a dark figure kneeled in front of him. His face appeared to be swimming, moving; the nose and eyes were shifting positions in his face. If he – or she - was talking to him, he wasn't able to discern the mouth from the rest of its features. They looked like jolly gelatin. He freaked out a little.

"I-" He blinked once and looked at the mystery guy. His features fell into place, but they were still moving.

"Sir, you need… by a medic…"

"I'm okay," he slurred, his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. "I-I'm just…"

He'd been holding on for so long, but the physical and emotional exhaustion were too heavy for him to keep ignoring. He managed to get out of his sunken car, made it to the shore, went into the water again, got Alex out to the surface and even brought him back among the living. Now that help was finally there he was sure that both Alex and him were going to be okay.

_He will live. Alex has to be okay…_

He did what he could, out of instinct and loyalty, and so did Alex when they were trapped on the vehicle. Nothing was under his control any longer; let the others do the rest.

_I can't… So tired… Cold…_

The funny-face person began to blacken before his eyes. Chris suddenly felt lightheaded as his balance was robbed abruptly from his body. He couldn't tell if his eyes were opened or closed when all the distortion around him turned black. His mind never registered when he let his body fall to his side. He didn't feel when the pebbles and small rocks rose up to meet his face or noticed the two arms that attempted to halt his fall halfway.

"I need a medic here! This man is also injured!"

It was the last thing his hearing caught before closing entirely to the world outside.

* * *

It was dark again. It was getting heavier with each minute that passed. The damned absence of color was getting into him; he dreaded it, it was driving him crazy. He couldn't remember succumbing into that void, or how. In fact he didn't remember how it got dark in the first place. It happened fast, like in a movie that was being played in fast-forward. It was a mixture of different things – bad things. Panic, cold, pain, confusion; it was everywhere at the same time and it was getting excruciating and unbearable with each passing minute. He couldn't move his body or call for help. The silence around him was ironically deafening. He felt detached from himself. He felt lifeless. And up to the moment, feeling _lifeless_ was painful.

He didn't want to be there. Any place would be much better than that empty hole where he was being held on by his own self. He tried to submit images to his brain, the most recent ones; perhaps it would ease his stress somehow. The six-sided ring was the first thing that came, the red ropes and its turnbuckles around it, the rafters that held the brilliant lights high above the arena. The big platform from where he and his colleagues made their entrance was bathed with colorful lasers and white smoke. It was so clear, it all represented him.

It was all he was; his passion, what he lived for. Making stunts and risky moves, holding the microphone in his hand and making the audience thrive in emotions and cheers… those were the things that made him - Alex Shelley - happy and whole. But now in his predicament, his future looked grim, barely existent. The thought of not being able to wake up was killing him. He wanted his anger to overshadow his depression and sadness, but even his emotions weren't cooperating with the rest of his body. The swallowing darkness was defeating him and he could do nothing to stop it.

A loud noise exploded somewhere close to him, and as on cue, the images were gone and physical feeling returned to his system. The stabbing headache, the painful cramps in his body, the pressure in his chest; they all reappeared at once and hit him as hard as any blow he'd ever received. And like any blow, it hurt.

He was aware of the pain and the movement around him, and a strange feeling of weightless suspension under him. His limps were still numb and the uncontrollable shivering started to take him over again. Despite that, he felt something warm covering him that was making him feel comfortable.

The movements halted suddenly. The warm weight was removed and he was exposed to the unforgivable environment again. Voices invaded his ears, wherever he was. The straps that held him on the gurney were untied.

"Male… twenties… car accid-"

The sounds of tearing fabric made him burn with embarrassment as he felt fully exposed to the strangers that roamed nearby. Warm hands began to poke him; the sensation was barely noticeable through his skin. He felt tiny pricks somewhere in his body, he wasn't sure where. A minute later, the same kind warmth enveloped him once more. But the shivering didn't diminish a bit and it was making it hard to breathe.

"He's severely hypothermic…"

"Body temp at 82.3…"

More noises attacked his disoriented ears; they were coming and going without notice. Whatever they were saying made no sense to him. Alex could hear beeping sounds and mechanical buzzing somewhere in the background.

"Op… wound in right tem-"

He felt something being poured on his forehead. He flinched as the unknown liquid burned inside his head wound. He tried to suppress to groan, but he was too weak even to do that. He opened his mouth to moan in pain, but the warm oxygen blast forced its way into his nose and mouth prevented him from making any audible sound. He twisted his head trying to shake loose the cupped mask, resulting in a wave of dizziness.

"Sir?"

Somebody's hand righted his face.

"Sir? Can you hear me?"

Was somebody calling him? The voice sounded like a female.

_Lucky day…_

"If you can hear me, open your eyes." She sounded in control.

The urgency in her voice forced him to obey. His eyes slowly peeled open, harsh light blinding him momentarily. He closed them and opened again quickly, letting his eyes to get used to the source. The blurry face of middle-aged woman in white coat was staring at him at the head of the emergency table. Some other's hands were working on his head while he felt a couple of nurses working on him somewhere out of his sight.

He tried to speak. The oxygen mask stifled the sound again. He wanted so much to say something.

As if reading his mind, the doctor retrieved the mask from his mouth. Breathing became a little more difficult after that, but nonetheless he felt somehow free.

"Good, breathe deeply." The doctor encouraged. "Now I need you to tell me your name, sir."

He swallowed the dryness of his mouth and throat. He tried to speak but only a rough grunt came out. He couldn't even speak properly.

_How pathetic._ He sighed in frustration.

"Don't rush it, sir. Take it easy. Just your name."

Swallowing dry again, he concentrated his energy on his speech. "A-Alex." He breathed. "Where-"

The doctor cut him short. "Alex, I'm Dr. Johnson. You're at the hospital now. Don't be scared." She assured him. "Alex, I need you to move your fingers. Both hands. Can you do that?"

_What did she say?_ He was cold, hurting, tired, and she wanted him to move his fingers? He knew that when the doctors asked that it means that there could be something broken or some sort of paralysis. His mood sank deeper and he was getting scared. Those were not good news.

With much effort, he managed to flex his trembling fingers slightly.

"Very good," Dr. Johnson said. "Now can you move your toes?"

_Oh give me a break._ Alex was beginning to feel mortified by this woman. It was not his lucky day after all. But if he obeyed and did what she said, maybe they would let him rest.

He did what he ordered and managed to wiggle his toes. The action made his whole feet hurt. "Okay, Alex. You did it very good." Dr. Johnson said in a cheerful tone, as if she was talking to a little boy. She cupped the oxygen mask on his mouth and nose again.

A jolt of pain struck his head. He raised a hand to touch the source but another hand held him down. "Ow!"

"Yes, I know that hurt but you must not touch it. You received a nasty blow to your head. It's been cleaned right now so we can stitch it later. You may have a concussion but nothing is broken." She said loud over the beeping machines and indistinctive muttering. "Where else does it hurt?"

"Everywhere…" He winced. His jaw quivered. "It-I'm… fr-freezing."

"I know. You're suffering from severe hypothermia. If the EMS crew had brought you here an hour later, it would have been another story, trust me." Dr. Johnson explained. "We're trying to raise your core temperature but it's a slow process; you need to be patient. It can take some hours or even days. I'll have to make some other tests to know if something else in your body has been compromised by that. We'll be monitoring your condition closely to see if your heart rate and motor skills had been damaged by the exposure."

Alex looked squarely at the doctor with glassy eyes, not giving her the smallest sign that he was actually understanding. He wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or cry. He started to wonder if being dead was better than to have a grim and uncertain future ahead.

Dr. Johnson noted the young man's distress. "Don't be scared. It's just standard procedure. You responded perfectly when I asked to move your limps. You also lifted your arm voluntarily and you're coherent enough. That's just beyond good. You're going to be alright, I promise." She stroked his damp hair gently, comforting him.

Alex didn't believe her at all. He let out an exhausted sigh and closed his eyes, but opened them back quickly when some fragmented memories invaded his weary mind. Something was amiss. Or better said: _someone_.

_Oh God…_

"Chris…" he said absently. It was followed by a weak cough. Damn, how could he forget about him? The blow and the cold surely affected his brain already.

"What? What did you say?"

"My f-friend," he tried to raise his voice. "H-He was with me…"

"Oh yes, Mr. Sabin." The doctor recalled.

"W-Where is him?" He asked her. He silently prayed. _Please, let him be alright._

"He's here too. He arrived just after you." Dr. Johnson said. "He's been taken care of right now. I'll tell you more as soon as I know, okay?"

No, it wasn't okay. He wanted to know more. At least he knew that he was alive. He remembered so little about their ordeal. He didn't know if something happened to Chris after he got out of the car; he didn't what exactly happened to him after that. But what if he was in worst condition than him? His own condition was not very good at all. He couldn't let his best friend to endure what he was enduring. He shook his head in denial.

"Listen Alex, I need to run more tests and CT's to decide if you need to go to the operating room. Because of the concussion, I need you to stay awake a little longer. You understand?"

"I can't… s-stay a-awake…" He whimpered pitifully. He felt a little tap on his cheek. Dr. Johnson was forcing him not to fall asleep, and that was all he wanted at that moment.

"Alex, just hold on a little longer…"

His eyelids felt extremely heave for him to keep them open. His eyes began to droop again as the sounds around him began to fade. The shivering ceased gradually and the pain was reduced to an uncomfortable tingle. He didn't fight it, which was weird enough for him. He sighed wearily as he sunk deeper into the thermal blankets that covered him. There was no one that would force him to stay awake in great discomfort and pain. Not his boss, not his friends, or any of his dates; not even his own mother.

"Come on, stay with me. Not yet…"

He gave in to the darkness once more, hoping that when he wakes up, that whole water-filled nightmare would be over.

TBC...

* * *

_A/N: Poor guys..._

_Want to read the aftermath? Want to flame me? Leave a review or comment and let me know what you think. It's quite easy, you know..._


	4. Aftermath

_Disclaimer: The usual: nothing or anyone is mine._

_A/N: Long chapter ahead. Hope you like it._ _Errors and mistakes, blame my dictionary_ ;)

* * *

_**Lake Michigan**_

_**Chapter 4: Aftermath**_

_Calmness. No worries. Peace of mind. _

"_There you have it, folks. The majestic view of Lake Michigan right before our eyes…"_

_Cheery voices. Laughter. Jokes._

"…_have my needs to free my muses sometimes."_

"_Haven't you found anything else interesting enough…?"_

_Cool breeze. Darkening sky. Whiskey and memories._

"_Remember the house show at Tampa Bay last Summer?"_

"_Oh come on, pal. Don't hold the suspense."_

_Tires screeched and metal shrunk. Pain and shock. Lake Michigan under his feet._

"_Oh God, hold on Chris!"_

"_We are goin' down!!!"_

_Water everywhere. Fear fueled decisions. Suffocation. Cold._

_Black, blank, white…_

Chris Sabin was awakened by the faint echo of moving water and rain. He breathed slowly as he shook away the dream/memories of the accident that plagued his unconsciousness. Pain pounded on one side of his brain, but it was so small that he thought that an aspirin pill would do the rest later. His left shoulder felt somehow stiff and restrained. He wanted to touch it, but didn't dare to move a hair or to open his eyes yet. He was afraid that when he does so, would find himself trapped on the lake bottom inside his car, surrounded by dark water.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light that filled the room, being the white ceiling what greeted him. His body woke up gradually and regained its feeling. He tilted his head from side to side and realized that he was lying in a hospital bed. The room looked quite spacious and empty, with the exceptions of an arm chair placed near the bed and a rolling table in the fat corner of the room. A tall glass window occupied almost half of the wall at his side. Outside was cloudy and a faint rain dripped against the window. The weak sun light that filtrated through the clouds suggested that it was sometime between morning and midday.

Feeling groggy, Chris lifted his head to take a better look at himself. The thermal blankets covered him up to his neck. He saw an IV drip bag dispensing some kind of clear liquid into the line that ran all the way down into the back of his right hand. He lifted his hand in front of his face; it was quite pale and the fingers' nailbeds had a purplish tint on them. He flexed his fingers and closed them until he form a fist and opened again. He felt delighted when he felt no pain while doing it. He moved his toes under the covers. Again, no pain, and the fact that he could feel them almost made him chuckle in relief.

Nevertheless, his shoulder felt strange. He removed the blankets off his shoulder to see the source of his discomfort. His arm was held on a blue sling which was secured by straps around his neck. He lifted a portion of his hospital gown's neck and revealed a white bandage covering most of his shoulder. Perhaps most of his body escaped the damages of frost bite, but his shoulder didn't escape the impact of the car crash.

Chris leaned his head back on the pillow. He closed his eyes as the events of the previous hours assaulted his mind. He had no memory of what happened after the rescue team arrived at the lake side. It was like his brain shut down and went black for that period of time. There were no dreams or sounds; only the water sounds that were still splashing deep inside his ears. He did remember waking up at some point; some blinding light over him, white-hot pain engulfing the left side of his body and disorganized movements around him. But nothing more. Then, he was there, recovering from a car crash and other "misadventures" on his way home. He felt overwhelmed.

The sum of all his aches made him feel tired. He was dozing off when the door of his room opened. A man around his forties in a white coat and with rounded eyeglasses approached him.

"Ah, Mr. Sabin. You're finally awake."

Chris didn't reciprocate his greetings. He blinked tiredly.

"I'm Dr. Novak. I attended you when you arrived here. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, groggy… among other things." He breathed. "Been better."

Dr. Novak smiled wryly. "Just like I expected, it's entirely normal you feel like that. Judging for your condition, you must have had a very hard night."

Chris chuckled humorlessly. "You don't wanna know."

He took Chris temperature with a digital, ear thermometer. "98.4°F. No more hypothermia for you." The Dr. said rather satisfied. Then he moved to check the IV drip bag.

"What's the IV for?" Chris asked.

"Electrolytes. You were dehydrated when you arrived."

"Dehydrated?" He said, confused. He was submerged in water for God knows how long. In the struggle of staying alive, it was inevitable that he ended swallowing some of that water. Coming out of there dehydrated, it didn't make any sense, at least not for him.

"You passed out due to exhaustion by dehydration. You pushed yourself to the limit; and that along with the dropping temperatures, be thankful that nothing else got worst." Dr. Novak explained. "The most serious injury was your shoulder. It was dislocated and it required operation, but it wasn't at serious as I initially expected; it didn't took long for us to pop it onto place again."

Chris winced at the news. It felt like the end of the world for him. A dislocated shoulder was serious stuff for him. It meant not been able to step on a ring for a fairly amount of time. He would have to halt everything he lived for; his training, sparing with his colleagues, even touring. It was depressing. He closed his eyes in disbelief.

Dr. Novak, however, saw the changing mood in Chris' expression. "Don't worry so much. As I said, the dislocation was not severe, not even moderate for that matter. You're in an excellent physical condition. It should not take long before your could use your shoulder at it fullest. Eight weeks maximum. After that you would be able to do all those… things you do on TV." He tried to lighten his mood.

Chris smiled at the last sentence. He stared at the window. It was still raining a little outside. The weather matched his mood.

"Well, everything is normal and under control. It would take another couple of hours for the fluids to be depleted completely into your bloodstream. After that, you'll be ready to be discharged." Dr. Novak informed.

"Really?"

"That's right. You're almost free to go. Some friends of yours came earlier to check on you and brought some clothes. I'll tell a nurse later to bring them to you."

Chris frowned. "Friends?"

"Yes. Scott and Pete, if I remember their names well. They drove here as soon as they knew about you."

"They were here?" Chris said. He looked surprised. The faces of Petey Williams and his former mentor Scott D'Amore formed in his mind.

"They left some time ago, but promised to come back to pick you up and visit your other friend." The doctor said. "I'll be back later for some final instructions and some prescriptions. You can take a nap meanwhile." With that said, he left the man to rest.

"Hey, wait!" Chris said out of the blue, forcing Dr. Novak to turn again. "How is Alex?" He asked timidly. "You know, he was in the car with me…"

Dr. Novak's expression grew a little serious. "Ah, Dr. Johnson's patient."

"Is he alright?" He asked, but didn't receive an immediate answer. His gut began to shudder. "He's alive, ain't he?" He didn't want to consider that something may have happened after he was loaded into the ambulance.

Dr. Novak breathed deeply, but smiled faintly. "Be at ease, Mr. Sabin. Your friend is alive, he's in recovery now." He finally said. "But his condition needs to be monitored for a couple of days."

Chris sighed in relief, but then he got worried. "Monitored?" _He needs to be monitored? Is – was he so bad?_

"His hypothermia was a lot more severe than yours. His temperature still needs to go up a little more. He's got a concussion which made him a little disoriented when he's awaken. In addition to that, he got two bruised ribs very likely from receiving CPR." The doctor explained. Then he added after a short pause. "The paramedics stated that they didn't perform CPR on him at any moment while tending him."

Chris turned his head away from him and stared to the glass window. His blood turned a little colder by the news. The actions he thought would do some good to Alex did the other way around; he ended doing further damage to him.

"You performed it, don't you?"

Chris nodded.

"There's no reason to feel ashamed, Mr. Sabin." He said. "You actually made the stunt of your life; you saved your friend."

"But at what cost?" Chris stammered, his eyes staring at the dripping rain outside.

"Broken ribs from CPR are more common than you think. That can happen even to the best doctor. Either way, he just received bruises; nothing was cracked." He assured the young man in bed. "And like you, he will recover entirely from that and all the inflicted damage from the crash and the weather exposure. It only requires time."

Greg let out an audible "hmmm", surrendering into fatigue.

"Now sir, take your well-deserved nap. After that that you'll be free to go home." He patted Chris' shoulder lightly, then he headed to the door.

Chris tried to be cheerful to himself. The doctor was right; they both were alive and would recover just fine, no matter how long it would take. They had a life ahead and none of them were going to waste it. But he couldn't shake away the possible fact that all this was somehow his fault. Perhaps if he'd paid more attention to the driving and to the road, none of that would have happened, in the first place. Not the crash, no nothing.

_Speaking of which…_

"Um, before you go," Chris turned his head and called him once again. Dr. Novak turned just went he grabbed the door knob to exit the room. "One last thing and I promise to let you go."

"Okay, tell me."

"Eh, I'm not sure if you know something about it but…" He paused. He seemed to be searching for the right words to say.

Dr. Novak waited for him to finally speak.

"Do you know anything about the other car? You know, the one that hit me? What about the driver?"

"Ah about that," Dr. Novak scratched his forehead, as if trying to remember. "The police officer told about it. It was not only the driver."

Chris frowned.

"As far as I know, there were five people in that car. College students, sophomore year." He said. "A bunch of kids doing some joy-riding around. The officer in charge of the investigation will fill you up later."

Chris swallowed the forming lump in his throat and breathed hard. "O-Okay. Thank you." He said in a monotone tone. Work done, the doctor exited their room.

He stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what to think of what to feel. On one side of the coin, two people survived the car crash and escaped from drowning; in on the other side, five people ended up dead. One side was bright and shiny; the other one was bad, very bad. No matter the aftermath, he was tired at the moment and didn't want to thing in anything that could remind him of the last hours, or days, or whatever time that passed between the accident and the hospital awakening.

Sinking the back of his head deeper into the pillow, he let the healing darkness cover him.

* * *

After filling up some papers and singing for his release, Chris Sabin found himself walking toward Alex Shelley's room. The hallway leading there was strangely quiet and long. The sound of his shoes against the tiled floor and the occasional muttering from the hospital personal filled his ears. The familiar smell of medicines and disinfectants filled the place. All those things made him think that he was heading to the mortuary instead of a recovery room. The long trench helped him gather his thoughts.

Thankfully, some hours passed quite fast for him. His weariness made him sleep until almost evening. After shaking away any sleep remnants out of his eyes, he tossed his hospital gown away and changed into the clothes Petey and Scott brought to him earlier. He was making some phone calls from the bedside telephone when a police officer entered the room. The uniformed man introduced himself as the one in charge of investigating the accident that involved both him and Alex and that, in order to prove his hypothesis on what happened, he needed to know what happened from both men.

Chris was dreading that moment. Having to relive the whole ordeal was something he though wasn't prepared to do so soon. But he also knew that the faster he get over it, the better for everyone. So, he told him everything that happened, as he remembered: the impact, the fall, and how they got out of the car while they were underwater. The police officer paid full attention to him and took notes of every detail the young mad told him. After telling his part, Chris couldn't resist to ask the cop about his part.

The officer told him his findings. The morning after their rescue, two vehicles were recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan: one was Chris' Ford Explorer, and the second one was a red Toyota Land Cruiser. Both cars were severely damaged, but the Land Cruiser's front part was completely destroyed. Inside the police found the bodies of five young people, along with several empty bottles of beer and wine. The speedometer of the red car stopped close to 85 miles per hour when the road's speed limit was 55. Judging for the cars' appearances and the contents found inside, there was no doubt that the accident was caused by the negligent Land Cruiser's driver.

Eventually, autopsies were performed to the fatalities; three of them died instantly on impact, the other two drowned inside the SUV when it flooded. In addition to that, their toxicology report revealed that all of them were heavily intoxicated with alcohol. With those findings, it was clear which part was responsible of the unfortunate events. The cop assured Chris that he and his friend were not to blame in any way. They were the victims.

After listening to that, Chris felt relief mixed with pity. He should feel angry for those who almost kill him, but he didn't. He truly felt sorry for the others that died, but also felt that nothing could be done to change the fate of those people. They made their decisions and that was their aftermath, pulling Alex and him along with them. He was one of the lucky ones and that alone should make him feel happy.

Chris turned the door knob and entered quietly to the Alex's private room. He gave a quick look to the laying man to assure that he was not entering to the wrong room, then he moved forward. He approached his bedside cautiously as if the minuscule sound could wake him up. Some wires were attached to his chest and torso. They ran from under his polka-dotted hospital gown and hooked up to the adjacent monitors. An oxymeter clip was clipped over the index finger of his left hand to monitor the oxygen level in his blood. The oxygen tubes inserted into the young man's nostrils ran across his cheeks and were helping him breathe. An IV was inserted and secured into the back of his right hand.

"Geez man…" Chris said under his breath. He pulled up a chair and sat at Alex's bedside in the semi-dark room. The only light came from the headboard above Alex's bed. Seen his best friend in that condition transported him to the lake shore once more. He was covered in some layers of thermal blankets. His face was drained from most of its natural color and made the dark circles under his closed eyes to stand out from his skin. The open forehead wound caused by the collision with the window glass was now stitched and covered with a small bandage. The doctor assured him that he was getting better and would recover. But to Chris, he looked just like when he took him out of the lake and laid him lifeless on the shore.

For the next ten minutes, he sat watching Alex's unmoving frame. Despite what the officer told him, he couldn't stop thinking that everything was his fault, and everything could be prevented. They were supposed to be in their respective homes, enjoying the company of their families and friends. As weird as it sounded, he felt that their friendship had been jeopardized by the accident. They treated each other as brothers, but there were times that they didn't want to see each others' faces for days. He remembered being too hard on Alex when he was fooling around his SUV with his camcorder, and moments later they were fighting for their lives. Now the possibility that Alex would not forgive him was more wood to the fire of his growing depression.

The soft beeping of the heart monitor in the room made Chris drowsy. He rubbed his tired eyes when a soft moan came from Alex. He tilted his head to Chris' direction, but his eyes remained closed. Chris leaned closer to the bed.

Alex's face contorted slightly as he let out another soft groan. He breathed deeply as he peeled his eyes open.

"Alex?" Chris said carefully. What would he say?

Alex's frowned when he found someone that looked like Chris staring at him. He blinked two times to focus better. The face staring at him looked better now. Dirty blond hair, blue eyes, lightly stubbed jaw… Yep, that must be Chris. He looked somehow paler than he remembered.

Chris offered a little smile. "Hey."

"Chris," he murmured upon recognition. "Am I dreaming?"

"No man, you're awake." Chris replied.

He winced at the light headache he was having. "Ow, my head!" he groaned hoarsely. He pressed a hand on his temple trying to lessen the pressure. He took a moment to survey the room. "Chris, are we really out of the water?" Alex asked feebly after a pause.

For a moment, the question made Chris thought if Alex was actually awake or was talking in his sleep. Either way, he replied to him. "Eh… Yes, we are."

Alex exhaled heavily in relief. His body released the tension he'd been holding up since he opened his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Chris asked.

"Like crap," he muttered. Chris chuckled a little. Amidst their hard ordeal, his personality was intact.

"I've had better days too." Chris added.

Alex eyed him. "At least you're on your feet."

"Hey, we made it out right? Eventually everything will fall into place, I know." Chris said reassuringly.

"I know," Alex said. He paused and swallowed hard to let his throat rest from talking and to break the small knot that was forming there. He stared at Chris and noted the sling that held Chris' arm close to his body. "How're you holding up?" Alex pointed at his friend's arm.

"Good, I think. I'm a little sore. The shoulder's not big deal after all, at least that was what the doctor told me. Anyway, some weeks out of action are coming my way." Chris explained.

"Don't tell me about it." Alex sighed.

"I heard that cop investigating the accident came to see you earlier." Chris commented, changing the work-related topic.

"Yeah. He asked me some questions about what happened. I told him what I could. I was still out of it most of the time." Alex said while staring at the ceiling. "Told me about the people in the other car, too."

"Yeah. He told me the most sober of them had 0.18% of alcohol in its blood. That was crazy." He remembered.

"Party hard, huh?" Alex laughed weakly. The action made his migraine to beat inside his head again. He closed his eyes in pain.

Talking was making him tired and he knew it. It was his body's way to tell him that it was too early to force himself to act like if nothing happened. The drugs and other medicines running through his veins were leaving him lethargic and drained. He needed to recover his strength and energy and the only way to do so was by resting. Despite that, he made an effort not to doze off and maintain coherence in front of Chris. Besides, his presence made him feel somehow safer. He just needed some time to get convinced that the nightmare was over.

"Are you in pain?" Chris asked.

Alex shook his head. "Tired. And a little cold." He turned his head and look at the curtain-covered window.

Lots of things were clogging in his mind and fill the space around him with some sense of uneasiness. He tried deep into his mind to find the source, but nothing came; just a big empty hole in the middle of everything.

"I feel weird." He whispered.

"Why's that?" Chris asked curiously. "You mean, like overwhelm?"

"More like disoriented and confused." Alex confessed. "It's complicated." He sounded lost.

"Alex, you can talk to me." Chris offered. "Just imagine that I'm Dr. Phil and shoot." He added humorously to lighten Alex's mood at least a little. Alex's half-smiled.

"I don't know. It's like being in there and being someplace else at the same time. I still remember most of it. I was scare out of my wits."

"You're not the only one. I felt the same way."

"But then my mind is in blank. You know, I don't remember how I got here or what happened after… that. I don't even know if someone finally came to help us."

Chris saw the confusion in Alex's face. Somehow, he knew where Alex was unconsciously heading with his suppressed memory pieces. Alex's urged himself to know about it. But deep inside, Chris wanted them not to ever come out since that was one of the saddest episodes of their lives. He took the risk by asking. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Alex gave a depressed sigh. "Inside the car, underwater. And when I break the glass. And some voices talking, I couldn't understand them. Next thing I knew was me laying flat on my back and surrounded by people." He remembered.

Chris didn't expect this to happen. The empty loop in Alex's mind was actually the loop he wanted to forget. How was he going to tell him what happened to him before rescue arrived? Maybe a little lie would do and safe him from the embarrassment, but at the same time, he didn't have the heart to lie to him. To his best friend. Alex deserved to know no matter how painful it could be.

Chris breathed before speaking. "Well, rescue did come for us. Cops, ambulances, even emergency choppers." He paused and laughed wryly at the memory. "It was like in the movies."

"How do you know that?" Alex asked.

"I was there. I mean, I saw them."

"And where the hell was I?" Alex stammered, raising his voice.

Chris remained silent. He licked his lips but didn't say anything. Thinking quickly, he said the first thing that could safe him from his silence. "Nobody told you?"

"Told me about what? That I fainted or something?"

"Umm, it was a little worst that that."

"Then tell me," He insisted. "Chris, what happened to me?" His voice began to crack. Now Alex sounded frustrated. Chris knew something and was hiding it from him. He didn't understand why. He was his best friend, why wouldn't he talk clearly to him?

Chris looked at Alex squarely to his eyes. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yeah. Just tell me." He nodded.

_Okay then, where should I start?_ Chris took a moment to organize the memories inside his racing mind. He held his left forearm over the sling. He leaned forward on the chair and drew himself closer to Alex's bedside. The whole thing made him a little nervous.

"Well, this is what happened from my point of view." Chris started. "After you – we flood the car, I went out first. You told me to, remember?"

Alex's gaze looked lost at first, as if trying to remember. "Yeah, I remember that." He said.

"Well, I did it. I swam all the way to the surface without looking back. It was raining. Eventually I could reach some rock formation and headed there. I came out of the water."

"Okay, then you did good." Alex smiled. "And when did I come out?"

Alex stared at Chris. Suddenly his face grew more serious than it already was. "You didn't come out."

Alex's eyes widened at the news and the despair in Chris' eyes. His body went numb in shock. _What?_ He wanted to say it, but it appeared that the ability to speak abandoned him.

"I was so tired that I never noticed you weren't around after some minutes. When I didn't find you anywhere around, I freaked out." Chris continued. The pitch in his voice lowered a little. "So, I went back into the water again, to the car site. And then I… I found you… down there." He looked to the floor and then back to him. He sniffed unconsciously. "Drowned."

"Wait, wait… what… Oh God… bro, what do you mean? I don't…" The heart monitor attached to Alex's system increased its beeping sounds. A strangled sob threaded to escape Alex's throat. He tried to suppress it by putting a closed fist over his mouth and looking away. He wanted so madly to know what happened to him and now he couldn't believe what his friend was saying. He was pretty messed up but he felt very much alive. It wasn't true, it couldn't be.

Then a memory shard returned to him. The tangled foot, his struggle to free himself, his desperation… "I… I didn't… make it?" He whispered, almost inaudible to the man by his side. "I died…" He flatly added.

"Alex…"

"Then how did I get out?" Alex asked full of curiosity. What could be worst than what he just heard?

"Uh, I got you out… to the surface. That's when the rescue chopper flew over us. But help wasn't even close to us yet, and I couldn't wait. So I… I swam toward the shore, and I knew you couldn't wait… I couldn't wait. You were dead right by my side and I was so scared and cold and in pain that I just… I just acted out of instinct. I couldn't – I just couldn't stand seen you lifeless just like that…" He stopped to breathe and to swallow. His eyes burned when he remembered how close he was to losing his friend. "So… I, eh… I… brought you back. Didn't wait for them to arrive. There was even a moment that I… that I thought you were gone for sure. But you weren't, and I'm freaking happy that you came back. Really."

It all made sense to Alex now. Maybe that was why he felt miserable and disjointed when he was conscious. He was exposed to the cold water for God knows how long, he was deprived of oxygen for another unknown amount of time, and surely the blow in his head didn't help matters either. And yet - with some help - he was there, awake, speaking, thinking, feeling; he was overwhelmed.

Alex didn't say anything for the moment. He seemed to be meditating. "Brought back from the dead…" he said absently, then he laughed. "Ha, how cool can that be?" he added mischievously.

"Nope man. It's not cool and it's not funny. It's…totally awkward." Chris sighed. "I'm sorry…"

"What for?" Alex asked.

"This whole… madness. The crash, then we falling to the lake… It just feels like it's my fault."

Alex looked at him. What he just said had any sense even to his foggy understanding. "Eh, it's not like you did in on purpose. It couldn't be prevented."

"I just can't help to feel that way." Chris said.

"Hey, none of us is responsible for what happened. You heard that cop, right? It was some drunken people looking at something else than the road in front of us. We both know it." Alex said to him. "Besides, we already got a whole lot of things in our heads to deal with. That is not our burden."

"But getting well is, huh?" Chris added.

Alex nodded. "Now you got it."

They both smiled. They were truly fortunate to have each other watching over themselves. Things happen for a reason, and perhaps that life-threatening ordeal would serve as both reminder and prove of that. They felt relieved. A moment of silence came. The heart monitor returned to its normal, steady sound and continued to beep softly.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, man. Thank you for everything. I owe you a big, big one now." Alex said truthfully.

"Really, there's no need for that. We helped each other, I shall thank you too." Chris said modestly. "It's what we do almost all the time, no?"

"Yeah. You're right."

"Just do me a favor and try not to do any stunts like that ever again." Chris requested. "I can't save you ass every day, you know."

"I'll do my best. Promise." Alex answered. He formed a fist with his left hand and pointed it to Chris. "Still friends?"

Chris' right fist met his friend's. "Still friends." He touched the knuckles with his lightly, symbolically renewing their friendship. "Always."

His head still hurt a little and the cold remnants were still trapped under his skin, but Alex was rather happy. He laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. It was impossible to hide his weariness to his friend. His body needed to heal.

"Need you beauty nap, sleepyhead?" Chris joked.

"Oh don't start. You know everybody needs it."

"Alright. Then I'll let you rest. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. I'll call Scott and Petey to tell them you're awake. Maybe they'll visit you later." He stood up from the chair, ready to leave.

"Okay," he said tiredly. But then he opened his eyes. Chris couldn't leave yet. "Hey, before you go…"

"What? Do you need something?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," the laying man replied. "I need a bedtime story."

Chris began to laugh, which ended in a small coughing fit. "A bedtime story? Ha ha, that was a good one, Alex."

Contrary to Chris, Alex remained serious and kept staring at him. "Please?"

Seen the insane seriousness of his request, Chris stopped laughing. "Are you serious?"

Alex raised an eyebrow as an affirmative answer. He just loved to see others' expressions to his actions. It was hilarious, and it made him feel better.

Defeated, Chris sat back in the chair and sunk into it. He reminded himself that that was Alex's personality at its full, and it was beyond good that the old Alex was slowly coming back in track. "Okay then. Which would you like to listen to? "_Three Little Pigs_? _The Boy and The Wolf_? _The Little Mermaid_?"

Alex smiled mischievously. "How about _The Charming Boy and The Whiskey Girl_?"

"What?" He asked. Then, as on cue, he remembered. He was about to tell Alex about his 'out-of-the-world experience' just when they got hit. Now _that_ he remembered. He threw his head back, laughing at him. "Gosh, Alex. You never let pass a tiniest one, do you?"

"C'mon, make this ill guy a little happier before he goes to sleep." Alex said, his speech already slurry due to his drowsiness. "Besides, you know you owe me that one."

Chris straightened in the chair. This was going to take long. "Okay then."

"Remember: bedtime story mode."

He chuckled as he remembered the encounter. "Here it goes." Alex got as comfortable as he could in his bed, careful not to disturb the IV line or any of the wires attached to his chest and body. Chris cleared his throat. "Once upon a time in a hot Summer night in Florida…"

Alex tried to suppress a laughing fit, but a chuckle escaped his lips.

"Could you at least let me start it, man?" Chris asked with a mix of annoy and amusement. He really wanted to laugh, too.

"Sorry." Alex cleared his throat. "Okay, go ahead storyteller."

"Alright," Chris said. "Once upon a time in a hot Summer night in Florida there was a brave, handsome man named Chris…"

_**.:: The End ::.**_

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_A/N: Ain't friendship great…_

_An so, __Lake Michigan__ comes to an end. Although it couldn't appear it at first, I really love the MCMG; they are very talented wrestlers and two of the best in the business and I say it with no remorse. But putting them in a little bit of hell from time to time doesn't hurt, does it?_

_Thank you very much for reading and giving me a chance to share my story to you, no matter how bad my English is._

_Very special thanks to __**msvicky16**__, __**Xtyne**__, __**Skillet's Lady Goddess**__, and __**Marie**__; thank you so much for your comments. You totally rock!!_

_Thanks again and until next time :)_


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